Page 60 of Level Me Up

"No, Morgan, they aren’t going to come over here, so don't…"

Bernie says, but I cut her off with the slurred, “Ohhh nooo worries” as I stand up, swaying a bit.

"No, no. I want you guys to see your friends. I really need a drink." I regain my balance quickly, then head towards the bar. I ignore their protests and keep walking.

I pretty much forced them to become friends with Dex and his group. It's not fair for me to expect them to stop being friends. That would be a total bitch move on my part, and I'm not a bitch. I was a bitch to Dex, though when I broke up with him. Ugh.

I order another drink. It's been a long time since I drank this much, but if there was ever a night to get drunk, tonight is the night. I peer over my shoulder to see if the table has been inhabited by gamer boys, and sure enough, it has been, but all I can see is Link and Simon. Good. It’s for the better that I don’t see him.

"We need to stop meeting like this," says an unfamiliar, male voice to my right. I adjust my gaze and see the same guy who bumped me at the bar earlier. I smile because he seems nice.

"Yeah, considering this is such an unusual place to gather." I can do this. I can converse with a member of the opposite sex like it’s no big deal.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Bar Guy asks.

I point to my almost full drink. "I already have one." Hiccup.

"Ah, well, I can wait. You'll need another sooner or later, right?" he says with a confident smile.

Yeah, we'll see about that, Bar Guy. He cocks his head and grins, "You're funny. I like that." Ack! I must have said that out loud. To be safe, I just smile and take a drink. Bar Guy starts talking and introduces himself, but I don’t catch his name. He's talking, and I'm nodding like I'm listening, but really, he sounds like he's from a Peanuts cartoon. All I hear is Mwa-Mwa-Mwas. Before I know it, though, my drink is empty. I can no longer feel the burn of alcohol, so I should probably be done for the night.

Bar Guy notices at the same time and leans in. "Can I buy you that drink now?" he asks, in a flirty tone.

"Eh, no thank you. I'm done for the night."

He places his hand on my arm and says again, "C’mon sweetheart, let me buy you a drink. We can go find a table and talk some more."

I look down at his hand and am just about to say no, again, when from behind me, I hear, "She said no," in an all-too familiar voice.

I close my eyes and say, "It’s ok. He was just leaving, and I'm heading back to my table." I look Bar Guy in the face and say, "Please move your hand."

He drops his hand immediately, and looks behind me at Dex and says, "Sorry man, I didn't realize she was taken." Then he starts to slink away.

"I'm not taken," I yell after him, sway a bit from the force of my voice. Oh, damn, I’m drunk. I need to stop this madness before I make any more of a scene.

With a mental push, I quickly turn around on the stool to face him, immediately pretending the move didn’t throw off my balance as much as it did. I look up into that handsome face and simultaneously the butterflies that I thought had died weeks ago flutter to life and anger boils in my blood. "I had it under control, thank you."

"Yeah, looked like it," he says with a similar tone of annoyance.

"Excuse me," I say as I stand up and then almost fall down. His hands jut out and balance me; one hand on my arm and the other on my waist. Damn it.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," I say and brush off his hands.

He says something unintelligible as his hands drop to his sides. I push past him and walk toward the restrooms. Hopefully, that will give him enough time to leave, or at least be out of sight by the time I get out.

I'm standing infront of the sink looking at my drunk self in the mirror when Gia comes in. A look of relief washes over her face.

"What, did you think I fell in?" I say with a laugh.

"You've been in here for like fifteen minutes. We were getting worried." I give her a questioning look when she admits, "Ruby, Bernie, and I were getting worried. He left."

I let out a deep breath. Good. I didn't want to face him again, especially not like this.

"I, uh…we saw what happened."

I grip the edge of the sink and lean into it, "Yeah? Well, I started our relationship looking like a fool, only fitting that I look like one weeks after we break up.” I picked a wonderful time to have three too many drinks.

"Morgan, I've tried not to push you, but I think you need to talk to Dex. Really talk to him, try to work things out."

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